parameter

noun

Mathematics.

a constant or variable term in a function that determines the specific form of the function but not its general nature, as a in f(x) = ax, where a determines only the slope of the line described by f(x).

one of the independent variables in a set of parametric equations.

Statistics. a variable entering into the mathematical form of any distribution such that the possible values of the variable correspond to different distributions.

Computers. a variable that must be given a specific value during the execution of a program or of a procedure within a program.

Usually parameters.limits or boundaries; guidelines: the basic parameters of our foreign policy.

parameter

A geometry term until 1920s when it yielded sense of "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system" (1927). Common modern meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor" is from 1950s. Related: Parametric.

parameter

n.

One of a set of measurable factors, such as temperature and pressure, that define a system and determine its behavior and are varied in an experiment.

A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary.

A statistical quantity, such as a mean or standard deviation of a total population, that is calculated from data and describes a characteristic of the population as opposed to a sample from the population.

A psychoanalytic tactic, other than interpretation, used by the analyst to further the patient's progress.

A factor that restricts what is possible or what results. Not in technical use.

parameter

[(puh-ram-uh-tuhr)]

A quantity or number on which some other quantity or number depends. An informal example is, “Depending on the traffic, it takes me between twenty minutes and an hour to drive to work”; here, “traffic” is the parameter that determines the time it takes to get to work. In statistics, a parameter is an unknown characteristic of a population — for example, the number of women in a particular precinct who will vote Democratic.

Note

The term is often mistakenly used to refer to the limits of possible values a variable can have because of confusion with the word perimeter.